Hate preacher found guilty of terrorism

Abu Hamza al-Masri replies to questions from his defence
lawyer Joshua Dratel in Manhattan federal court in New York
in this artist's sketch. REUTERS/Jane Rosenberg

London imam Abu Hamza al-Masri was convicted of terrorism
charges in New York on Monday following a four-week trial that
shined a spotlight on the preacher's controversial anti-Western
statements.

A jury of eight men and four women found Abu Hamza, 56,
guilty on all 11 counts he faced, handing Manhattan US
Attorney Preet Bharara his second high-profile terrorism
conviction in three months. The defendant could face life in
prison.

In March, a different jury found Suleiman Abu Ghaith, a
son-in-law of Osama bin Laden, guilty of terrorism-related
charges.

Prosecutors had charged the one-eyed, handless Abu Hamza with
providing a satellite phone and advice to a group of Yemeni
militants who kidnapped Western tourists in 1998. Four of the
hostages were killed during a rescue mission by the Yemeni
military.

Abu Hamza, who was indicted in the United States in 2004
under his birth name, Mustafa Kamel Mustafa, also was accused
of dispatching two followers to Oregon to establish a
militant training facility and sending an associate to
Afghanistan to help al Qaeda and the Taliban.

Lawyers for Abu Hamza argued that he did not participate in
any conspiracy. They said the government's case rested
largely on the incendiary language he employed in media
interviews and the sermons he gave at the Finsbury Park
mosque in north London, which earned him notoriety as one of
Britain's most prominent radical Islamic voices.